About Jin

Atlanta has no shortage of culinary institutions that serve up a good southern style fried chicken. Whether it’s a fast food chain like Popeyes, a high end version from Watershed, or a new player in town like American Food and Beverage, there’s plenty of fried chicken to go around and satisfy your craving. That being said, there’s one place in Atlanta that stands out in my mind for having the best fried chicken in town: Busy Bee Cafe. Busy Bee is THE place I go when I have a serious hankering for soul food in the form of crispy fried chicken and sugary sweet tea. [Read more…]

During Easter weekend, my family and I got to celebrate the first birthday of our dear friends’ Stella and Sean’s daughter, Josephine. Knowing Stella’s personal style and stellar attention to detail, I jumped at the chance to feature her party on our modest blog. Luckily, Stella was happy to oblige my request and not only threw a beautiful celebration in honor of sweet Josephine but was more than happy to share her vendor information. Lucky us!

Standard tools for a night of Korean karaoke: laminated song book, obnoxious tambourine, crazy remote with too many buttons, and a mic with a disposable covering

Back in my UGA college years when I could afford such luxuries as spontaneity, my friends and I would frequently pile into a car on a random weekday night and drive 40 minutes on 316 from Athens to Atlanta just to karaoke.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t sing or carry a tune. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t like music (what are you, a robot?). As long as you are in good company, karaoke can mean good times for all.

New to Korean karaoke? It’s simple – you get a private room for your group (yup, its that literal), order lots of drinks and food, pick songs from a giant song book, and let the disco lights inspire you. Most Korean karaoke bars will have an extensive list of Korean music, impressive amount of American hits, and adequate sampling of international fare (Chinese, Russian, etc).

General II. Originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, PA. in 1919

If you often find yourself humming the theme song of Thomas & Friends, this post is for you. Like most toddler boys, my son is in love with trains. I never thought there would be a day that I would know all of the trains’ names from Thomas the Train, but alas, I here I am. (Edward is my favorite.) And even though I think Thomas and his friends do a lot of dumb stuff, at least the theme song is catchy and I get to hear Alec Baldwin narrate some episodes.

Imagine my delight at finding out there was a train museum just north of Atlanta. Located discreetly off of Buford Highway and the Pleasant Hill Road intersection (by, well, a bunch of railroad tracks), this is an industrial strip that I’ve driven by countless times but never paid much attention to. One recent Saturday morning, James and I gathered the kids, met with our good friend Jungsook and her daughter Elizabeth, and explored the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth.

The museum features over 80 pieces of retired railway equipment for display, including cars like the Private Car Superb, which was built in 1911 and used by President Warren Harding for his 1923 cross-country tour (and later carried his casket as the funeral train from San Francisco to Washington, DC to Marion OH). They also have other transportation vehicles like old Marta streetcars from the 1900s! Many of the trains are completely open for the public to climb in and explore — very hands on.

Our munchkin conductors — Elizabeth and Isaiah

While the museum was fun for our agile tots, it wasn’t very stroller friendly. Half the museum is an unpaved outdoor lot devoted to cabooses, passenger cars, and locomotive cabs. Aside from the main exhibit hall, poor Amelia was left to bump along the gravel and had to stay put while the rest of us got to explore trains and climb carriages.

Hey, guys? Guys?

Admission fee allows access to the museum grounds, but for a small extra cost, they have a full size diesel locomotive and mini train available for rides.

Chugging along

The exhibit hall included more retired trains and vehicles, along with other displays such as an elaborate train model, vintage fruit and vegetable crates, gift shop, and other railway paraphernalia.

They were mesmerized by the train models for a solid 20 minutes

Vintage displays of offices and circuit boards

Stop on red

Look both ways before crossing

We saw a lot of older folks perusing the grounds, many with their grandchildren. I can only imagine the nostalgia one might feel touring this museum if one grew up riding and conducting these trains. Needless to say, the museum is fun for people of all ages, young and old.

Korean word of the day: 아줌마 (Ah-ju-ma) A middle-aged or older Korean woman

You know you’re an 아줌마 when you look forward to kimchi making parties with your girlfriends, or shall we say, 아줌마 friends. Nevermind the fact that I have two kids and love national public radio – no, my status of 아줌마 was officially sealed the moment I eagerly anticipated making kimchi with my friends.

So when the day finally came, I happily grabbed some kimchi jars, and made my way to the kimchi partay. Our kimchi guru, YoungMi, had thoughtfully bought all the ingredients for our party so all my friends and I had to do was provide slave labor and our own containers. [Read more…]

I constantly struggle with the same dilemma every single week: what’s for dinner? It’s a question that I dread. The only aspect of culinary art I enjoy is the part where I get to eat. Unfortunately for my family, cooking is something I don’t enjoy much. I hate the entire process of cooking: meal planning, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, and cleaning. It’s completely bizarre because my grandmother and mother are amazing and thoughtful cooks who show their love through their food. They’ll make their own kimchi, roll their own noodles, and spend an insane amount of time making homemade dumplings (just to give a few examples of dedication).

But I bring good news to meal planners near and far (whether you like to cook or not)! I recently discovered something that even I, one who dreads planning dinners, could be excited about for meal times. Every Thursday, The Fresh Market has a weekly special called Little Big Meal. They provide all the basic ingredients for a full meal to feed a family of 4 (with lots of leftovers). Themes vary by month. Check out some of their past and current meals:

Asian noodle bowls (they even had a Korean stir fry option!) and pound cake for dessert

Full meal options for Spaghetti. The 36oz cut fruit alone is normally $10.

Not only does the Fresh Market make it easy by providing everything you need for your “Little Big Meal” at a designated section of their store (with samples), but their bundles are a steal at $20. Shoppers can save between $7-$13 per bundle. Depending on the monthly theme, each meal package comes with a variety of options so you can mix it up: protein (they’ve recently added vegetarian options), carb (many are gluten free), sauces, flavors, etc. If you’re not familiar with The Fresh Market, it’s a great store for prepared foods, meats and cheeses, and other specialty items. Their price point can be a bit high, but if you look for their weekly sales, you can make out pretty well. Shopping here is also a pleasant experience: the open layout, warm lighting, classical music, and overall presentation are much more appealing than some of other big-name grocery stores.

So now, at least once or twice a month, I’ll buy a “Little Big Meal” so that it’s at least one less meal I have to think about planning. And while it’s not an “I-made-everything-from-scratch” kind of dinner (which I do put together despite my all inner resistance), it is a quick and easy alternative and much better than ordering pizza. Click here to see if there’s a Fresh Market near you.

The current promotion through November, although I admit this one is a bit lacking compared to other meals

Today is my daughter’s first birthday. As Korean traditions go, the first birthday (doljanchi) is a pretty big deal. While we put on a huge (as in venue, guest list, and extras) celebration for Isaiah’s first birthday, we decided to scale Amelia’s party down and keep it more intimate. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it certainly is true. James and I couldn’t have managed this past year without the love and support from all our family and friends–Thank You to our entire support network for your words of encouragement, generosity, and babysitting!

Let me beegin with the truth: up until 1 week ago, I knew absolutely nothing about honey bees. Sure, I knew that they pollinate plants and had maybe heard about them being endangered but who cares? They are bees! And in my ignorance, all bees are created equal. (I obviously paid a lot of attention in my UGA entomology class.)

So when we realized we had bees coming into our siding earlier this summer, my first instinct was kill, kill, kill! Imagine my displeasure when Al, our pest control guy, told us that we have a case of honey bees and that they were protected by law. F!

We called his recommendation for bee removals and the guy, without even asking any questions, bluntly told us that all bee removal jobs start at $750. $750!! After hearing that, we just ignored the honey bees and left them to bee since they really weren’t bothering us. That is, until we noticed them buzzing around the other side of our house after finding another gap in our siding. (Yes, we need new siding pronto.) The second cluster of bees made us act fast. After some debate, James and I knew we had to do the right thing and get the honey bees professionally removed. Beecause, you know, we like fruits and vegetables. Thus beegins our adventures with Mike.[Read more…]

I’m not sure when eating kimchi for lunch became socially acceptable, but I’m really glad it did. These days, I have no shame noshing on some Korean for lunch and going straight back into the office … after popping a mint (or two) that is. And with the convenience of Blossom Tree just a few blocks away from my office, having kimchi for lunch has never been easier. [Read more…]

I’ve been in denial but I can’t avoid reality anymore – my sweet baby Amelia is no longer a newborn but an active, curious, infant. *Sob* Now that she’s 9 ½ month old, she insists on pulling herself up on everything and is already attempting to walk, much to this mama’s dismay. Diaper changes are nearly impossible because of her constantly squirming mass and I stopped trying to put pants on her weeks ago. Who needs pants anyway?

And as the Korean tradition goes, I have the duty of planning her first birthday party celebration. First birthdays are a huge milestone for any culture, but for the Korean culture especially, first birthdays often blow up to epic proportions and have a mind of their own. It’s a very special birthday in the Korean culture called the Doljanchi (돌잔치) or simply, Dol. And being the awesome mother I am, I haven’t planned anything yet. Perhaps this is because I might have gone a bit over the top with Isaiah’s Dol. Needless to say, I won’t be doing all that again. Amelia’s will be much smaller and without as much fanfare – but goshdarnit, she will have cake! (If not just to smash.)

The most affordable scenario would be to host a Dol at our house; however, our house is neither big enough or nice enough to host a super large party and honestly, I don’t want to clean all that much. So I am going the route of finding an outside venue to host Amelia’s Dol. Since I am going through the Dol planning process myself, I thought it would be helpful to list some popular Dol venues in the Atlanta area for all you future Dol planners (who like me, do not want to go through the work of hosting at home). And if not for a Dol, these venues make for great private parties/events, whatever your occasion may be.

I’ve been to a Dol on a farm and restaurants like Fleming’s and even heard of one being held at the Mandarin Hotel. This just proves that your Dol can be as unique or varied as you want it to be! The above list is simply a starting point and have successfully hosted many Dols. Being in the south, there are tons of country clubs, churches, community centers, and club houses that rent out their facilities for private events. And we can’t forget all the Atlanta restaurants with private dining options. (I found this list to be particularly useful.)

For additional Dol planning resources, might I recommend the following: